Re-Opened Suggestion: Images

[rabler]

The site software may not allow this, but if it does
it would be nice if higher paying members got larger VIEW resolution rather than larger upload resolution,
and lower paying members had limited viewing resolution.

After all, anyone can view their own copy of their images at whatever resolution their camera produced. Iit isn't a motivation for them to upgrade membership to benefit everyone else, unless they are a commercial member. Effectively I feel like I'm getting punished for paying for Diamond membership and struggling to view posts from silver members.

 

[WobblyHand]

Image size testing

www.hobby-machinist.com

Image: Uploaded at 4032 x 3024 jpg image file size on my disk = 3,365,218 bytes
Downloaded from HM, image is 960 x 720 pixels, can no longer zoom into it, downloaded file size is 149,047 bytes.
This is a 22.56:1 compression in file size, and 17.64:1 reduction in pixel count (4032/960 * 3024/720)

I thought being a diamond conveyed some super powers or at least some additional picture or media privileges. This is the same as before upgrading my membership. Original picture posted as full image.

 

[wa5cab]

The only difference between Diamond and Platinum that I am aware of is that the former is good for a year and the latter is good for the lifespan of either the site or the individual (whichever is shorter).
That being said, however, we might discuss among the staff whether or not to it is possible to increase the allowance for certain file types and if so whether or not to do it.

 

[WobblyHand]

Was gold previously, so I thought there were some media/photo limit advantages by upgrading to diamond. Or at least that's how I interpreted the membership matrix.

 

[wa5cab]

No, the most significant difference between Diamond and the rest is that Diamond is good for your lifetime whereas all of the others are good for a year. I would have to look at the chart for most other differences.

 

[rabler]

@wa5cab The table under the Donations tab directly says platinum and diamond members receive “Unlimited” image size privileges, which is obviously not the case.

Premium page

This space allows you to choose a Premium deal

www.hobby-machinist.com

 

[wa5cab]

Actually it is the case. But there are several definitions of "unlimited". "Unlimited " taken literally means all of the way ti infinity. But nothing built by Man is truly unlimited. Yesterday's Super Computer is tomorrow's toy. You are currently in a small niche of computer capability that may or may not ever become common. I am sure that Bryan will look into the pro's and con's of it and we (meaning staff) will probably discuss it. I don't know for example what the current limits are of the hardware that we currently lease or rent are other than to say that they are probably greater than they were a decade ago when this site first started up. But knowing that most of the members here aren't rocket scientists and have a seemingly ingrained tendency to not make adequate usage of the delete key, I would be opposed to changing the Fora any. There are thousands or tens of thousands of threads on here that unnecessarily contain two or more copies of one or more photos or drawings. I imagine that were someone to devote the man-months to it, he/she could reduce the site footprint by one or two orders of magnitude. In any case, we'll "get back to you".

 

[jwmelvin]

There are thousands or tens of thousands of threads on here that unnecessarily contain two or more copies of one or more photos or drawings.

Quoting a previously posted picture should simply reference an existing file on the server, so it won’t require any additional storage space. It does consume bandwidth when delivering page content to browsers, but that’s a separate issue.

Based on fees for photo-hosting services, the membership fees here should easily cover using pictures of a few megabytes. I understand only some people are paid members, but sub-megabyte images are low quality. This should not be a low-quality site.

 

[rabler]

Actually it is the case. But there are several definitions of "unlimited". "Unlimited " taken literally means all of the way ti infinity. But nothing built by Man is truly unlimited.

Robert,
While arguing with a moderator is probably foolhardy, this is marketing type doublespeak. Good photo quality was the a significant part of the reason I became active on this board and paid for a diamond membership. I have posted much higher quality pictures in the past. This has now changed, and frankly I feel like I got played. The table clearly shows silver and gold as having limits, and other more costly members as U/L. At least have the graces to admit the table needs updating.

 

[vtcnc]

Hi guys. I’ll take a closer look at this. Please be patient as I juggle with, family and volunteering priorities.

While I can say that we have tried to make some sensible changes, I can also say that none of the changes were intended to cheat or play anybody.

I’m asking everyone involved to keep cool heads while we sort things out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WobblyHand]

@wa5cab here's my 2 cents.

Can't say that (speaking for myself only) the argument is for us to run with infinite images. To be honest, it is just that in the past year, HM has implemented some horrendous compression, which is seriously devaluing the website. One of the reason I joined HM was the quality of the photos. It made it easier for me to understand how things were done when I could see the detail.

Maybe HM could implement less onerous compression on the higher paying memberships? Say 2:1, rather than 20:1 for diamond, and more compression for lower memberships? It helps the storage problem, rewarding sponsors and diamond members and progressively penalizes lower and lower memberships. At the very least, it provides an incentive to support this site. Pay more, get to post better pics. To be honest, that was how I interpreted the membership matrix.

Using more links to photos would help. Replying to messages shouldn't mean that images are copied and doubling website storage. That doesn't appear to be a sustainable path. Maybe the current website behavior is baked into the Xenforo software. Maybe they have some better options? Maybe the basic issue can be discussed with Xenforo so they can come up with a solution in a next release of the forum software?

But, saying unlimited photo privileges for higher memberships and then compressing the daylights out of them so there's no detail and the photos are blurry, just doesn't seem to be in the spirit of unlimited photo and media privileges. I agree with @rabler, that's doublespeak.

Please do discuss it amongst staff. And do get back to us. We do want to continue to make this a good place to post and hang out.

@vtcnc I was typing this just as you posted. No one, I hope, is angry. We just want to make this a better place. Peace.